Twisted Sister Live at Wacken DVD Review

By: Rob Cavuoto

I can remember the days as a teenager in the early ‘80’s, sneaking in to the local heavy metal bar The Soap Factory, (what can I say it was an old soap factory), to see Twister Sister back before they had a record deal. For what it’s worth, I never drank once I got in. I was there for the music and for the show. It was a spectacle of epic portions for a large scale club that any 18 year old could have hoped to experience.

Fast forward to 2003, the classic lineup of lead vocalist Dee Snider, guitarists Jay Jay French and Eddie “Fingers” Ojeda, bassist Mark “The Animal” Mendoza, and drummer A.J. Pero joined forces yet again and took the stage at the Wacken Open Air festival in Germany. This 110 minute DVD is thick with riffage and rebellion. This DVD/CD reissue of the concert, which was previously released in 2005, was the first filmed performance of the fully revitalized, post-millennium Twisted Sister.

Live at Wacken contains footage from Wacken and snippets of other performances, as well as interviews. The performance footage is killer and the interviews chronicling the story of their reunion are riveting. As interesting those interviews are, I would’ve preferred that they did it after the concert. Just as I started to get into the show, the band was being interviewed, and just as I was getting into the interviews, the concert footage kicked back in. All and all, it’s still a great watch. So grab a beer, put on your old denim jacket, the one with the patches of the metal bands, and enjoy the show.

The accompanying CD, Live…Past & Present, completes the package, encapsulating the band’s history with vintage live tracks from Detroit and Porchester in 1980, London in 1982, and the 2003 Wacken performance.

DVD Track Listing

(*interviews sections)

01. What You Don’t Know (Sure Can’t Hurt You)
02. In The Beginning*
03. The Final Show…1987*
04. The Kids Are Back
05. Stay Hungry
06. The Speaks Reunion*
07. A Night For Jason*
08. Destroyer
09. Like A Knife In The Back
10. TS on TV*
11. The New York Steel Benefit*
12. Under The Blade
13. Old School Returns*
14. You Can’t Stop Rock ‘N’ Roll
15. The Fire Still Burns
16. South Korea April 2003*
17. Shoot ‘Em Down
18. We’re Not Gonna Take It
19. Festivals*
20. The Price
21. Reflections*
22. Burn In Hell
23. I Wanna Rock
24. Band Intro
25. S.M.F.
26. Credits

******

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CD Track Listing

Detroit & Portchester 1980

01. Bad Boys Of Rock ‘N’ Roll
02. Born To Be Wild
03. I’ll Never Grow Up. Now!
04. You Know I Cry

London 1982:

05. You Can’t Stop Rock ‘N’ Roll

Wacken 2003:

06. What You Don’t Know (Sure Can’t Hurt You)
07. The Kids Are Back
08. Stay Hungry
09. Like A Knife In The Back
10. I Am, I’m Me
11. The Fire Still Burns